Once Tom woke up, he had just enough time to finish eating breakfast before there was a knock at the door. He opened it and found a hand size drone carrying a package.

It just hovered in the air until it suddenly said, "identity confirmed." Dropped the package on the ground, and flew away. Tom did not know what to say, so he didn't say anything and just prayed that the game helmet was made out of durable material.

Soon enough, Tom got over his dazed state. He picked up the package and rushed back inside, brimming with excitement. As soon as he laid the packet on the table, he opened it. Inside he found a sleek silver-colored metal band. Which insides looked like it they were made of black glass. The package also contained the shortest instructions he had ever seen.

" Lay down, and place the Secverse helmet on your head. Remember to take breaks, as this model does not take care of your body. And remember to enjoy all your future adventures in Secverse!"

Tom prepared to spend as long as he possibly could in Secverse. So he stuffed himself full of food and visited the bathroom. Without further ado, he placed the band on his head while hoping that he made the right decision spending almost all of his money to get to the game earlier.

As soon as Tom placed the ring on his head, everything went black. The next moment he found himself in a square room where everything was white. A table with chairs on both sides was in the middle of the room, and on the other side of the table sat an old man.

"Tom, please sit down," The old man said.

Tom acted like an obedient puppy and sat down. The old man kept speaking. " As you have gained access to the Secverse a week earlier than your peers. You have a choice to make. Either you spawn in the middle of the wilderness. Where it would take you over a week to reach the starting village. In the village, you will find the most basic tutorials on how Secverse works. There are also stores where you could use credits to purchase gear, but you don't have any money left, so that's a bit of an unnecessary point. Or you can spawn in the starting village. But your account would be reset when other people get their hands on the game, so you would only get the knowledge you gathered during the week."

"Can I ask you questions regarding these choices?" Tom asked.

"Sure, you can ask me three questions." the Old man answered.

"Which one would you choose" Tom immediately asked. The old man smiled and said, "I think you know that I can't answer that question."

"Yeah, I figured, but I had to try."

After thinking for a while, Tom asked. "How much does the training cost."

The old man answered while laughing, "Good! Very good you caught on pretty quickly. Most training costs start from 0.5 credits and go up to 10 credits. And If you want to get better training, you will have to wait until the other people arrive here in a week. The NPCs only handle the most basic training that nobody wants to do, as it wouldn't be cost-effective for real people."

Tom was almost sure of his choice, as he realized that making 25 000 dollars in a week wouldn't be a realistic goal. Just to be sure, he asked. "Second question. How much money could I realistically earn? In a time frame where I would also be able to complete the training before my charter would be reset?"

"Most non-NPC will be coming in simultaneously with the human population, so earning money will be almost impossible because the NPC will only offer the most basic training. Everything else will have to be bought and sold to real creatures."

"So I won't be able to do anything in the starting village?"

"Is that your third question?"

"No!" Tom almost screamed.

"The town seems worse and worse each second, so I might as well go to the wilderness. At least then I will be able to keep everything that I acquire. And it will probably still amount to a nice lead compared to the others, so I might as well use this chance to gather some intel." Tom thought while making up his mind.

A great question popped up into his head, and he thought that he was a real genius.

"How can I become truly powerful?"

The old man's face turned from jovial to serious in an instant and said. "If you want to become truly powerful. You will have to push yourself to the breaking point. And forge yourself anew in the fires of adversity. Remember, everyone has their own path, and guides are just that, guides."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"your choice?"

"The wilderness, can I.."

Tom suddenly wound himself in the middle of a pine forest.

" affect where I will start in the wilderness." Tom finished his sentence while looking up at the sky.

Tom checked himself, and if he hadn't known that he was currently in a game, he could have sworn that he had just been teleported to a completely normal pine forest. His body felt absolutely the same as before he put on the helmet, so he couldn't discern if this was or wasn't his real body.

"Is the Secverse just a re-creation of the Earth... If so, I have truly messed this up..."

"Well, nothing to it. My only chance is to push onwards and hope I'll get something out of this." Tom managed to calm himself down, but he was still on the edge, as this was nothing like what he had expected. Then again, he wasn't completely sure what he had expected.

Tom did the thing that every person does when starting a new game, and said. "Status."

________________

Name: Tom Palmer

________________

"What that is... noo, I am doomed. There's literally nothing in the status window... Does this mean there are no stats, no skill, no nothing? Just me and my body..." Tom started to panic as he thought further into it." The alien did say that this was more like a second universe... and less like a typical game. I have truly messed up this time. The old man was talking about training. But then again, he could have meant something like how to create good metal alloys. NOOOOO!!!!!"

Tom was now in full panic mode. Having gambled 490 000 Dollars worth of credits. And he had no idea how easy it would be to earn them in the future. He was, feeling like a complete fool, he was currently the embodiment of easy come, easy go. Then again, spending ten credits did not sound so bad. "Yes, that's it! I only spend ten credits, how hard could it possibly be to earn one credit? And it's not like I truly lost anything. I just got this helmed instead of any money." Tom was using all of his brain power to come up with excuses for his actions.

After solid five minutes of arguing with himself, Tom finally stopped because he heard a heart-wrenching roar, which brought him back from the land of madness.

What he saw gave equal amounts of dread and hope. A meter (3,28 feet) tall bear made out of wood was rushing towards him. Tom's fight-or-flight response jumped straight to flight. He had only his body to use against the bear, as he was sure that the plain clothes he was wearing wouldn't be of any help.

His physique was nothing that impressive. So he wasn't even entertaining the idea of wrestling with the bear, even if it Would make for a great story. He had a lean body reminiscent of what a failed long-distance runner's body would look like. So he wouldn't be winning any marathons nor wrestling matches against bears, even if this particular one was small and made out of wood.

It did not take long for Tom to realize that he had made the wrong choice, the bear was gaining on him at a breakneck speed. Tom started looking around frantically as he tried to figure out a way to survive this situation, but all he saw was the same pine forest everywhere where he looked. The trees were nicely spaced out, so there were no chokepoints that he could use against it.

The only usable thing he could see was some sticks and fallen trees. He picked up the first stick that looked like it could be used as a club. Then he made an abrupt stop next to a tree, so he could have at least his side covered. And readied himself for battle.

five meters

three meters

one meter

The bear lunged at him with its maw wide open. Tom met its lunge with his best bat swing. The bear and the bat connected, it felt like he had hit a wall. His arms were in pain after the hit, but it did work. The bear's momentum slowed enough for him to dodge the lunge by moving behind the tree. However, to Tom's disappointment, the blow barely even left a mark on the bear.

Tom started running to the left. While thinking, what could he do? He noticed that the bear was relatively slow during turns, and was fast only after it had gathered enough momentum.

"That did barely any damage to it. And I think that hurt my arms more than it did it. This won't work. I need to come up with something else, and do it fast."

"Maybe, if I get my hands on something sharp..."

Tom looked around restlessly as he searched for something that could help him. Then Tom spotted a longer branch that had a relatively sharp point. And it wasn't a minute too early. The bear lunged at Tom once again. Tom managed to roll out of its way, just barely. He changed directions, forcing the bear to turn. After running for a while, he set the stick's blunt end on the ground and braced himself against it. Then Tom watched as the bear closed the distance between them, and with a thump, the bear rammed into the branch, which broke into dozen pieces. The bear howled in pain as its momentum carried it forwards. As it went flying over him, he managed to dodge the bear's maw, but its claws swiped at his leg and left a ghastly wound.

Tom sprang up to his feet. Or at least he tried to, as his leg didn't work. So he started backing away from the bear on his back. The bear turned around slowly preparing to end its wounded prey. It was clear from the bear's movements that it knew, that it had all the time in the world, as its prey wouldn't be running anywhere anymore. The bear started closing the distance between them while looking for the best avenue of attack.

But Tom was not going to go down without giving it his all. He Forced himself up using a tree for support. Then Tom spotted it. A sizable piece of the "spear" he had used was stuck on the side of the bear's head. Tom redied all his strength for one last swing as the bear charged at him. He put everything he had left into his last desperate swing. To Tom's relief, the swing connected with the stick stuck in the bear's head. With a heavy thump, the stick went the rest of the way into the bear's skull, propelled by Tom's swing. The bear slammed into the tree Tom was standing against. And as its last act of defiance, It managed to maul Tom's side open with its claws before it fell right on top of him. But at least death had finally claimed it.